She speaks. Or rather, she writes.

Day 1: Walked the whole city

This was one day where I failed to plan ahead.. So I missed a trip to perfume pagoda :( But nevertheless, made our way to the usual sights and places of Hanoi.. On foot. Totally doable and fun, just make sure you get a map from your hotel. In my case, I got it from highly recommended Hanoi Guesthouse that is raved about in tripadvisor. I arranged for a trip to Halong Bay through them too, which turned out to be one of the great experiences in life… right there next to Cape of Hope and Ulu Watu and Grand Canyon!

- when I pointed this place on the map and asked what building this was, the hotel lady said “Ho Chi Minh dead people” hahahhaha for some reason I imagined skeletons scattered all over in the building hahaha..

- my mom trying to earn some extra cash.. (we forgot to keep some for airport tax)

Navigating through 3000 little islands…

..in a Chinese junk boat. That’s pretty much the closest I’d ever come to a cruise hahaha.. All for 58 amelican dola.. You get awesome meals on board, get to jump off the roof of the boat into the lukewarm green water, get to witness breathtaking sunsets, get to see “floating markets” up close, get to karaoke the night away.. and really just enjoy one of many God’s beautiful places on earth.

- the cave in one of the tiny islands

-i loved the perspective, colouring and the effects of this pic!

- jumping off the roof with some of the fun people on board (i was 2 seconds too late to be in the shot hahaha, and mom was never quite able to capture another shot as awesome as this)

Met some pretty awesome people.. there was this group of New York nurses that quit their jobs to do the whole ’see the world’ thing.Totally jealous hearing about that, makes me wana do it too. Then there was the cute Vietnamese who couldn’t speak a word of English but insisted on talking to me.. in sign language. So he’d say something in Vietnamese, I’d repeat it, then I’d say something in English, and he’d repeat it. Not too sure what we accomplished at the end of the day though, considering I already forgot how to say 1-5 in Vietnamese. The one thing I remember is people pointing to my teeth.. apparently its white! Hahahahah.. Wanted to tell them its probably the same colour as theirs, just that the background colour of comparison helps with the contrast.. But those were too many words to say in sign language hahahahaha…

- the mini floating market around the boat

- the gorgeous sunset

- the chilly foggy sunrise (5.30 am!!) Hahahah can’t believe I managed to wake up!! It was soo cold, camera lens got all fogged up and this was the only shot I could take!

- day view of the bay

Before I knew it, it was time to get to the airport and make my way home! It’s been one of those trips where you get a lil amazed at the experiences you went through, a lil humbled at the poverty that was apparent, a lil thankful that you’re not in the generation after war, a lil proud for planning & backpacking through it all, a lil sad that you didn’t get to see & do more.. and a lil happy to be going home.

It’s been a great trip and all I want to do is jump off to another!

So we took a train from HCMC to Hue, which was roughly 18 hours trip.. Amaaazzzzing views there.. Here are some of my favourites..

After settling in the hotel, we went for a recommended place on tripadvisor.. Lac Thienh (or next door, Lac Thanh) loonnnggg history on how one place was successful and bla bla bla and then copycats came up, confusing tourists and all, copying to a point where the staff pretend to be mute and dumb like the original shop owners. Anyways. not that I cleared up which was real and which was not, I just picked one and had the food. (go consumerism!! haha) OK-la, but didn’t quite jive with my taste buds. But still. Good vietnamese food for cheap when having the same thing in a VNmese restaurant in Msia would cost 20 times more.

After that we went to see the famous Hue bridge- apparently something everyone must do. So I got a night shot! Very reminiscent of NY’s backdrop pics I had last time hahaha.. Though this one had a mirage of colours, I just picked the most pretty :p

Day in Hue

1 word to sum it up : Motorbikes!!!!!

Really wanted a ‘feel’ of Vietnamese traffic, but was too chicken to try in HCMC cus I just didn’t like the statistics of one foreigner dying a month, and at least 30 Vietnamese hospitalised in ONE HOSPITAL from a traffic related accident. Plus I was living on the edge with no insurance (gasp! omg! tsk tsk!) yeah i know hahaha.. So begins the tale of us seeing the whole of Hue in a day on motorbikes!

-some temple (forgot the name- but again, its the usual touristy thingy)

- The Monks studying at the above temple. Food prepared for (not at all yucky okkkk), place to live in provided (twin sharing basis, fineee the bed’s a lil… basic), clothes free from all fashion pressure, and here’s the kicker.. people adore and adulate you to a point of hollywood stature. I think being a monk is awesome! And not to mention a damn easy life! Except for the part where people expect you to perform miracles and all hahaha..

- On some American shelter on a hill, there was a carcass of some tanker, but being alpha female at that point the sceneries were more interesting hahaha

- in another temple… me and mommy :p (YES she’s my MOM) get over it hahahah

- i LOVE this picture! It’s everything a city girl would be jakun about! Hahahahahah.. Below is the same picture, but with my camera having develop the expensive blur capabilities hahahah

- here’s everyone with their respective motorcycle drivers! It really was a great experience in terms of seeing a beautiful place in a very short time, and also being exposed to interaction with local people. One thing that struck me hilarious was that Vietnamese people say ‘my’ when they mean ‘you’/ ‘your’. So the conversation with my motorcycle guy goes:

Him: That’s my mother?

Me: No, that’s MY mother

Him: My mother?

Me: Errrrr…. Yeah. Maybe. Hahahahahha

Another one (before I caught on)

Him: What is my name?

Me:Eric? John? Jacob?… ?!???!?.. How would I know?!?!??!?

So after a while I caught on, and told him my name. Then I wanted to know his name

Me: So what is my name?

Him: Your

Me: No, MY name (What the hell?!? He’s correcting my ‘grammar’ now?!??!)

Him: Your

Me: Okkkkk (thinking I might’ve got it wrong after all).. What’s YOUR name?

Him: …??!?… Blurr… Your..

Me: OH. You mean my name is Your? (Of all the names.. What are the odds of THAT!?!)

Hahahahah.. Language differences is really a source of entertainment everywhere I travel. Apparently it’s like that in Sabah too, and the conversation can really take a turn towards ridiculousness before one side catches on.

ANyways.

Was in the station by 5 to catch a train that was late (only 2 hours late so we were fortunate) and because I bought the tickets a day earlier, I only got hard sleepers! O.M.G! A thin slice of cloth is your ‘mattress’, and there are 3 bunks on one side, so siting up is impossible, and getting up/down is a gym workout on its own. To make matters more insanely funny were our coachmates! 3 brothers who shook the train coach with their snoring! Complete surround system! Hahahaha..